Breaking news – another singer (Beyonce) accused of lip-syncing. Is this really news? We’ll let the public decide whether Beyonce gets added to the list of lip-syncing stars including Milli Vanilli, Britney Spears and Ashlee Simpson. In fact, the backing band (whose member accused Beyonce of lip-synching) has also been accused of not really playing either, according to this article on the Beyonce lip-syncing controversy in USA Today. Good luck sorting this one out.
Anyway, back to the more important point (your company’s Social Media efforts)
The head of Social Media at Ford, Scott Monty made a great point in his keynote at the New Media Expo earlier this month. Social media is not a campaign, it’s a commitment. Once you dive into social media for your company, you’re basically saying, “I’ll be there for you, through good and bad”.
So let’s break that down.
“I’ll be there for you”
This doesn’t mean you’re there to blast out promotions, product information and self-serving content relentlessly 365 days a year. NO!
You’re there to engage.
You respond to comments.
You ask questions.
You ask for feedback (and you listen).
You close the loop on things that your audience cares about.
You allow them to help shape your company’s direction.
You ask them to create content and you help share that content when they do.
“Through good and bad”
You don’t shut down when people complain (or worse, just delete any “negative” non-spam posts).
You’re not defensive.
You don’t close channels of communication because you don’t like what you get.
You adjust.
You celebrate the good and improve based on the bad.
So are you lip-syncing your Social Media?
Are you going through the motions when it comes to social media or are you committed to a relationship with your audience?
- Are you hanging out where your audience does?
- Do you know where they’re talking about you online (by actively searching for groups, forums and review sites and monitoring mentions)?
- Do you respond to comments, questions and inquiries?
- Does your staff have guidelines and action plans related to social media? Is someone in charge?
- Do you try to “activate” your audience to become evangelists for you?
- Do you listen to your audience and respond and adjust based on feedback?
- Do you create content that your audience wants to see? Do you know what they want to see?
- Do you encourage your audience to create content related (even tangentially) to your product?
What do you think?
Do you see companies lip-synching their social media? What are the most egregious examples that you’ve witnessed?
Let us know in the comments!
Also, don’t forget to join us Wednesday, January 23rd for Danny Iny’s Audience Business Masterclass webinar!
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Photo Credit: oouinouin: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oouinouin/3512102695/in/photostream/